Nonstop flight route between Belém, Pará, Brazil and Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL), Belém, Pará, Brazil and Shearwater Heliport (YAW), Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,311 miles (or 5,329 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport and Shearwater Heliport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport and Shearwater Heliport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL):

• Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport handled 3,283,527 passengers last year.
• In 1934 General Eurico Gaspar Dutra, then the Director of the Military Aviation, appointed Lieutenant Armando Sierra de Menezes to choose in Val de Cans a site where an airport was to be built.
• In addition to being known as "Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport", another name for BEL is "Aeroporto Internacional de Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro".
• Some of its facilities are shared with Belém Air Force Base of the Brazilian Air Force.
• Because of Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport's relatively low elevation of 56 feet, planes can take off or land at Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The furthest airport from Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) is Ayawasi Airport (AYW), which is nearly antipodal to Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (meaning Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ayawasi Airport), and is located 12,246 miles (19,708 kilometers) away in Ayawasi, Indonesia.
• The closest airport to Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) is Macapá-Alberto Alcolumbre International Airport (MCP), which is located 205 miles (329 kilometers) WNW of BEL.
• Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) has 2 runways.

Facts about Shearwater Heliport (YAW):

• In addition to being known as "Shearwater Heliport", other names for YAW include "Halifax/Shearwater Heliport", "12 Wing Shearwater" and "CFB Shearwater".
• The combined land and sea-based aerodromes were used to station carrier-based maritime patrol and fighter aircraft.
• Shearwater Heliport's primary mission remains as a heliport in support of the Royal Canadian Navy's Maritime Forces Atlantic warships with shipborne helicopters operated by 12 Wing, a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
• As part of the heliport conversion project, the old runway 16/34 was permanently closed and placed outside of a new fence for the Shearwater Heliport, as shown in the Canada Flight Supplement effective 31 July 2008.
• The furthest airport from Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,763 miles (18,931 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• Post-war, 1948, the Royal Canadian Navy took over the facility, naming it HMCS Shearwater, also known as Royal Canadian Naval Air Station Shearwater.
• 12 Wing's squadrons at Shearwater Heliport in Nova Scotia and at Patricia Bay in British Columbia currently operate the Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King but is expected to re-equip with the Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone commencing in 2012 with the conclusion of the Maritime Helicopter Project.
• The inconvenience of not having a ground component for the "Nova Scotia International Air Show" as a result of the Shearwater Heliport Conversion Project saw the entire event moved to Halifax Stanfield International Airport beginning in 2004.
• The closest airport to Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of YAW.
• Because of Shearwater Heliport's relatively low elevation of 144 feet, planes can take off or land at Shearwater Heliport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• By the 1980s this air show came to be named the "Shearwater International Air Show" and was a popular event for military aviation enthusiasts in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States as the location of CFB Shearwater, coupled with the popularity of the Halifax area among military aircrew, resulted in heavy international participation from the RCAF, as well as the USAF, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, Royal Air Force and numerous other NATO air forces in Europe.